Field Manual · Damage & Resists

Damage, resists, EWAR, and field reads.

A fast field reference for damage types, resist holes, NPC pressure, drone families, EWAR, and baseline ship tendencies. Treat these as starting reads, not a magic scanner result. Real fits patch holes, swap tanks, use drugs, overheat, refit, or simply get weird. This section is new — please send feedback if something is off or missing.

NPC reference Player hull tendencies EWAR reference Open Ship Explorer

Field rule: the best damage type is the one that hits the actual weakest layer of the actual fit in front of you. Use these as first reads, not a magic scanner result.

Damage types

EM

Hits shields hardest

Often punishes shield hooks and is common on Angel lasers, EM missiles, neutrals, and Amarr drones.

Multfrequecy / Imperial Navy / laser crystals
Mjolnir missiles
Curator / Infiltrator / Praetor drones

Browse EM ammo Shield ships

Thermal

Hits shields & armor

A secondary damage type that pressures both shield and armor — the signature damage family for Gallente drones and hybrid turrets.

Antimatter hybrid charges
Inferno missiles
Hobgoblin / Hammerhead / Ogre / Garde drones

Browse Thermal ammo Gallente ships

Kinetic

Hits shields & armor

Common on Caldari missiles (doctrine, EM/kinetic damage mixes), and Caldari drones.

Scourge missiles
Spike / Iron projectile charges
Vespa / Wasp / Warden drones

Browse Kinetic ammo Caldari ships

Explosive

Hits armor hardest

Often punishes armor holes and is common on projectile ammo, explosive missiles, bombs, and Minmatar drones.

Barrage / Fusion projectile ammo
Nova missiles
Valkyrie / Berserker / Bouncer drones

Browse Explosive ammo Armor ships

Best damage = weakest layer of the actual fit, not the baseline tendency. NPC factions →

NPC faction quick reference

Use this when picking mission/site ammo, building a basic tank, reading a hostile hull, or explaining why a pilot keeps melting in the wrong content. First damage chip = primary; faded = secondary.

Faction	Deal	Tank	EWAR	Notes & links
Angel Cartel Pirate Null / Low	Exp Kin	Exp Kin	Target painters	Usually the explosive/kinetic row players remember first. Expect speed and projectile-style pressure. Recent kills Ship Explorer
Blood Raiders Pirate Low / Null	EM Therm	EM Therm	Neuts Nosferatu Tracking disruption	Cap pressure matters. New pilots should learn why a neut can shut off repairers, prop mods, and tackle. Energy warfare D-scan trainer
Guristas Pirate Null	Kin Therm	Kin Therm	ECM	ECM can break locks. Good early lesson for missile pressure and why backup plans matter. ECM modules Local Intel
Mordu’s Legion Pirate Low	Kin EM	Kin Therm	Missile pressure	Treat as missile-heavy. Damage selection and range control are more important than the row alone. Missiles Ship Explorer
Rogue Drones Pirate Null	EM Therm	Exp Kin	Mixed	Drone sites vary. Use this as a starting point, then adjust if your tank or clear speed feels wrong. Drone items D-scan Parser
Sansha’s Nation Pirate Null / WHs	EM Therm	EM Therm	Tracking disruption	Laser-style pressure. Turret pilots should learn what tracking disruption changes. Tracking disruptors Damage guide
Sansha’s Nation (Incursion) Pirate Null / WHs	EM Kin Therm Exp	EM Kin Therm Exp	All	Omni expectations. Incursion fleets follow their own doctrine rules and fit standards. Fits Gank Check
Serpentis Pirate Low / Null	Kin Therm	Therm Kin	Sensor dampeners	Hybrid-style damage and damp pressure. Range and lock range both matter. Sensor dampeners Ship Matchup
Equilibrium of Mankind Pirate Null	Kin Therm	Kin Therm	Mixed	Useful enough as kinetic/thermal until a more exact site-specific profile is available. Item reference Field Manual
Khanid Empire / Pirate-adjacent Low	EM Therm	Therm EM	Missiles Cap pressure	Amarr-adjacent, but missile hulls and fit choices can shift pressure. Amarr hulls Market
Mercenaries NPC Low	Kin Therm	Kin Therm	Varies	Treat generic mercenary content as mixed enough to verify on-grid rather than trusting one rule. D-scan trainer Killmails
Sleepers Wormhole / Drifter-adjacent WHs	EM Kin Therm Exp	EM Kin Therm Exp	Neuts Scrams Webs	Omni tank and strong awareness habits. Sleepers are a good reason to learn probes and D-scan properly. Probe trainer D-scan trainer
Amarr Empire Empire High / Low	EM Therm	EM Therm	Neuts Tracking disruption	Empire baseline. Player Amarr hulls still depend heavily on fit and tech level. Amarr hulls
Caldari State Empire High / Low	Kin Therm	Kin Therm	ECM	Missiles and shields are the lesson path here. Expect kinetic bias from many Caldari hulls. Caldari hulls
Gallente Federation Empire High / Low	Kin Therm	Kin Therm	Sensor dampeners	Hybrid turrets and drones make thermal/kinetic the default mental model. Gallente hulls
Minmatar Republic Empire High / Low	Exp Kin	Exp Kin	Target painters	Projectile ammo can change damage. Treat explosive as the first guess, not the only answer. Minmatar hulls
CONCORD Empire Any	Kin Therm	EM Kin Therm Exp	Omni response	Not a normal PvE target. For new pilots, the lesson is criminal flags and safety settings. New pilot basics What killed me?

Left border: ■ Empire ■ Pirate ■ Other Drone families →

Drone damage families

Race	Damage	Light	Medium	Heavy	Sentry	Note
Amarr	EM	Acolyte	Infiltrator	Praetor	Curator	EM pressure; often used when shield holes matter.
Caldari	Kin	Hornet	Vespa	Wasp	Warden	Kinetic pressure; common in missile-flavored doctrine thinking.
Gallente	Therm	Hobgoblin	Hammerhead	Ogre	Garde	Thermal pressure; very common general-purpose damage choice.
Minmatar	Exp	Warrior	Valkyrie	Berserker	Bouncer	Explosive pressure; useful into many armor holes and fast tackle situations.

Drone choice changes optimal damage type — check what's in the bay. Player hulls →

Player hull resist tendencies

Baseline tendencies for common racial hull assumptions. Use them to ask a better question, not to stop thinking. Left border: ■ Armor ■ Shield ■ Mixed

Faction	Tank	Tech	Layer tested	Shoot this	Notes
Armor-primary hulls
Gallente	Armor	T1	Shield	EM Therm	Shield Gallente is uncommon outside polarized, bait, or meme fits.
Gallente	Armor	T1	Armor	Exp Kin Therm	Explosive hole is the classic armor read unless rigs patch it.
Gallente	Armor	T2	Armor	Exp EM	T2 resists can be very high in thermal/kinetic; avoid assuming raw T1 holes.
Amarr	Armor	T1	Armor	Exp Kin Therm	Amarr armor has better explosive than Gallente, but explosive/kinetic pressure is still common.
Amarr	Armor	T2	Armor	Therm EM	T2 Amarr can flip the usual expectation; verify before committing.
Shield-primary hulls
Caldari	Shield	T1	Shield	EM Therm Kin	Large EM/Thermal shield hole unless fit patches it.
Caldari	Shield	T2	Shield	EM Exp	Thermal/kinetic can be much stronger on T2 hulls.
Caldari	Shield	T1	Armor	Exp Kin	Armor Caldari is uncommon, but the explosive armor hole still matters.
Minmatar	Shield	T1	Shield	EM Therm Kin	Minmatar can shield or armor. First read is only a first read.
Minmatar	Shield	T2	Shield	Kin Exp	T2 shield profiles may reward kinetic/explosive instead of raw EM.
Minmatar	Shield	T1	Armor	Exp Kin Therm	Armor-fit Minmatar exists often enough that hull context matters.

Fits patch holes. Overheating, drugs, and refitting change everything. EWAR →

EWAR quick guide

Fight-ender

ECM

Breaks target locks when successful. Tackle, weapons, reps, and target painters all stop applying while jammed.

Counter ECCM modules · racial jammer resist rigs · close range to reduce jam chance · multibox logi that doesn't need to lock you

Browse ECM

Fight-shaper

Sensor dampeners

Reduce lock range or lock speed. If you cannot lock far enough, range control defines the fight — you kite or you die.

Counter Short-range engagement · signal amplifiers · ships with high base sensor strength · burn under their guns

Browse damps

Fight-shaper

Tracking disruption

Hurts turret tracking or optimal/falloff. Missiles are unaffected. Pilots should learn when transversal is helping or hurting them.

Counter Missile ships ignore TD · reduce transversal · switch to shorter range ammo · tracking computers

Browse TD

Fight-ender

Neuts, scrams, webs

Cap pressure kills prop mods and active tanks. Scrams shut down warp and MJD. Webs decide who controls the range.

Counter Passive tank vs neuts · cap batteries · anti-tackle fits · longer point range · RLML/missile kiting

Browse tackle

■ Fight-ender — usually wins or loses the fight outright ■ Fight-shaper — changes conditions, not always decisive ↑ Back to top

🎯 Understand fights

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